2014 impact study booklet v1

Economic Impact of The Charleston International Airport Complex

Conducted by:

Center for Business Research

Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce PO Box 975, Charleston SC 29402

January 2015

Economic Impact of The Charleston International Airport Complex Table of Contents: Purpose of the Study

1

About the Center for Business Research

1

Executive Summary

2

Charleston International Airport and Tenant Organizations

3

Charleston International Airport - Arriving Visitors

4

Charleston International Airport – Capital Investment

5

Charleston International Airport and Tenant Organizations and Arriving Visitors

6

Joint Base Charleston-Air Force

7

Boeing South Carolina

8

Summary

9

Background and History

10

Methodology

11

Economic Impact of Charleston International Airport Complex Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to estimate the economic impact that the Charleston International Airport aviation complex has on the Charleston Metropolitan Area (made up of Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties).  In this analysis, the elements of the aviation complex include the Charleston County Aviation Authority (CCAA) and tenant firms at the Charleston International Airport terminal(s), the neighboring US Air Force component of Joint Base Charleston, plus the adjacent Boeing South Carolina complex.  The study examines the jobs and payroll impact of the Airport Authority and the tenants at Charleston International Airport. The study also examined the jobs created due to local spending by visiting air passengers, considered part of the airport terminal’s direct effect as described in this report. Only the jobs and payroll impact of Joint Base Charleston and Boeing were included in the impact analysis. The study serves as an update to a similar study released in 2011.  A separate impact analysis of the $189 million impact of the current redevelopment of the airport terminal is also included in the study, but is not included in the overall economic impact because the construction and associated expenditures are limited to a three year period of 2013 to 2015.  Results are exhibited in terms of direct, indirect and induced employment, income, and/or total output (the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased). o Direct refers to the actual contribution or effect in terms of jobs or payroll, for example, resulting from the complex. o Indirect impact estimates changes in inter-industry (business-to-business) transactions as supplying industries respond to increased demand from the directly affected business sector(s). o Induced impact estimates changes in local spending by households resulting from income changes in the directly and indirectly affected business sectors.

About the Center for Business Research Analysis was conducted by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Business Research (CBR), which has served as the center for the compilation, interpretation and distribution of business and economic data for the three-county Charleston Metropolitan Area for more than 25 years. CBR staff for this project include Mary Graham and Jacki Renegar, who combined have more than 50 years of experience in economic and community research and have conducted hundreds of economic impact analyses in the areas of manufacturing, real estate development, the military, the visitor industry, healthcare and the transportation sector.

1

Executive Summary The economic impact of the aviation complex at Charleston International Airport is extensive, not only in the number and diversity of jobs it sustains, but also the billions of dollars it injects into the Charleston region (Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties).

Charleston International Airport Aviation Complex Economic Impact At-A-Glance 

More than $13.8 billion are pumped into the Charleston region’s economy and 50,000 local jobs supported annually because of the entire aviation complex including the Charleston International Airport, the US Air Force portion of Joint Base Charleston and The Boeing Company’s Charleston area presence. (See Table 1)



More than $1 billion flow into the Charleston region’s economy annually due to the jobs at the airport terminal and its tenant organizations, including those generated by visiting air travelers.



The US Air Force component of Joint Base Charleston, which operates under Air Mobility Command, directly employs approximately 7,300 active duty and civilian workers at its North Charleston base, translating into a total employment impact of more than 12,200 jobs in the Charleston region and more than $1.7 billion in total output, not including other area military facilities.



The Boeing Company’s facilities now directly employ 8,200 workers in the Charleston region in one of the highest impact sectors an economy can have—aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing—sustaining another 20,000 jobs in the region with the spin-off effect. The total estimated impact of Boeing’s local employment is more than $11 billion in economic activity in the Charleston Metro Area.



Recent capital investment in infrastructure and structure improvements of the airport terminal and airport facilities at Charleston International Airport add 1,400 jobs and $211 million to the local economy during the construction period of 2013 through 2015. (See Table 4)

Table 1: Total Aviation Complex Annual Economic Impact in the Charleston region, South Carolina Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester Counties Total Employment Impact Charleston International Airport & tenants Charleston International Airport Arriving Visitors Total Charleston International Airport US Air Force portion of Joint Base Charleston The Boeing Company Total Aviation Complex

Total Labor Income2 Impact

Total Output1 or Value of Economic Activity

3,915

$200,492,680

$552,729,413

6,181

$196,256,250

$569,587,820

10,096

$396,748,930

$1,122,317,233

12,232 28,992 51,320

$961,709,251 $1,977,811,840 $3,336,270,021

$1,726,112,928 $11,018,983,695 $13,867,413,856

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 2

Charleston International Airport and Tenant Organizations  Charleston International Airport and tenants include terminal operations and includes both passenger and cargo operations as well as other public sector organizations such as the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and Transportation Security Administration (TSA), plus private sector tenants such as the commercial airlines, air cargo, several auto rental firms, parking management services, retail and food service firms, and other air transportation support businesses. These total approximately 2,000 direct employees at the terminal. 

These direct jobs and their compensation in the region sustain another 1,945 jobs in various sectors, resulting in a total employment impact of 3,915 jobs in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.



Jobs at Charleston International Airport (including the tenant organizations) create more than $200 million in income for workers and proprietors in the Charleston region.



Approximately $553 million in output is generated in the Charleston area’s economy by the existence of the jobs at the authority and airport terminal tenants.

Table 2: Estimated Economic Impact Generated Annually in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

Employment 1,970

Labor Income2 $129,539,931

Output1 $336,311,200

794

$32,266,502

$93,408,268

1,151 3,915

$38,686,247 $200,492,680

$123,009,945 $552,729,413

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

3 3

Charleston International Airport - Arriving Visitors Approximately 4.8 million visitors travel to the Charleston region annually according to estimates by the College of Charleston’s Office of Tourism Analysis. Many of these visitors arrive via the Charleston International Airport for both business and leisure purposes in the local area. Using past and current local tourism sector studies by the College and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Business Research, certain assumptions were made to estimate the scope and spending patterns of these visitors to the Charleston region. 

  

Approximately 1.5 million passengers are enplaned (departing) and 1.5 million deplaned (arriving) at Charleston International Airport annually. About half of deplaned passengers are assumed to be area residents returning home from trips, and the other half are assumed to be visitors to the region. This is a conservative estimate based on past surveys estimating that 15 to 25 percent of all area visitors report that they arrive via the Charleston International Airport (15%-25% of 4.8 million equals 720,000 to 1.2 million).

The most recent College of Charleston’s study of visitor spending patterns per person per day (shown below), as well as a median number of nights stayed, were applied to air travelers.

Current and past studies’ trends on area visitors’ use of paid lodging (as opposed to non-paid lodging such as staying with family/friends) shows 75 percent or more as a typical average.

This analysis does not include any flight costs of any passengers or any information with regard to departing passengers.

Total Charleston International Airport Passengers Served, 2013 Resident Passengers Nonresident Passengers (visitors) Typical Length of Stay Per-Visitor Average Daily Spending on…

Lodging (estimated that only 75% are staying in paid accommodations) Food/Beverage Ground Transportation (local) Entertainment, Tours, Attractions Retail Shopping Estimated Total Direct Local Spending by Air Traffic Visitors, 2014



1,474,651 enplaned 1,448,970 deplaned Not included in impact 725,000 3 nights $ 94 $ 51 $ 31 $ 22 $ 36 $450,000,000

Visiting passengers through the airport terminal spend an estimated $450 million directly each year in the Charleston region at local accommodations, restaurants, retailers, etc., sustaining more than 6,000 jobs locally and $196 million in income. The result is $569 million in total impact annually in the area economy.

Table 3: Estimated Economic Impact Generated Annually in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

Employment 4,366

Labor Income2 $125,655,528

Output1 $344,509,996

797

$32,496,751

$103,890,526

1,018 6,181

$38,103,971 $196,256,250

$121,187,298 $569,587,820

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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Charleston International Airport – Capital Investment During FY 2013, FY 2014 & FY 2015, the Charleston County Aviation Authority has invested and budgeted for more than $118 million to be spent with local firms in construction and renovation projects at Charleston International Airport as part of the $189 million Terminal Redevelopment Improvement Project (TRIP) and additional capital projects. These projects include the expansion of the parking area for airplanes, fuel farm upgrades, airfield lighting and pavement improvements, as well as the TRIP project a complete renovation and expansion of the existing passenger terminal - are expected to be completed by late 2015.

Table 4: Estimated Economic Impact of Capital Improvements 2013-2015 in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type

Employment

Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

754 340 353 1,447

Labor Income2 $36,674,869 $18,141,092 $13,224,514 $68,040,476

Detail By Sector

Output1 $117,951,592 $51,074,021 $42,061,458 $211,087,071 Employment

Output1

Forestry, Fishing, Agriculture, Mining

5

$853,459

Utilities

2

$718,008

761

$118,676,821

Manufacturing

20

$7,797,845

Wholesale Trade

23

$4,090,022

108

$7,900,172

Transportation and Warehousing

27

$3,218,559

Information

13

$4,999,998

Construction

Retail Trade

Finance and Insurance

32

$6,575,325

Real Estate, Rental Services, Leasing Services

56

$13,565,502

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

136

$20,282,070

2

$485,910

Admin. & Support Services, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services

64

$4,182,882

Educational Services

10

$667,555

Health Care and Social Assistance

57

$6,049,135

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

17

$1,337,030

Management of Companies and Enterprises

Accommodations and Food Services

50

$3,338,107

Other Services (excluding Government)

44

$4,701,508

Private Household Operations

13

$90,862

7

$1,556,300

1,447

$211,087,071

Government Enterprises (Fed, State, & Local; example USPS) Total

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Charleston International Airport and Tenant Organizations and Arriving Visitors When combined, the effect of the airport terminal’s employment level and the effect of the arriving visitors via Charleston International Airport create a total impact of more than 10,000 jobs and more than $1 billion in the Charleston Metro Area.

Table 5: Estimated Economic Impact Generated Annually in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

Employment 6,514 1,531 2,050

Labor Income2 $255,195,459 $64,763,253 $76,790,218

Output1 $680,821,196 $197,298,794 $244,197,243

10,096

$396,748,930

$1,122,317,233

Detail By Sector Forestry, Fishing, Agriculture, Mining

Employment

Output1

18

$2,515,944

Utilities

14

$6,286,027

Construction

54

$6,070,467

Manufacturing

22

$11,899,366

Wholesale Trade

89

$15,965,264

Retail Trade

1,371

$77,986,665

Transportation and Warehousing

1,280

$228,257,499

Information

113

$36,645,078

Finance and Insurance

179

$37,337,913

Real Estate, Rental Services, Leasing Services

659

$130,726,512

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

259

$36,407,102

23

$5,083,890

492

$31,987,209

62

$4,099,633

Health Care and Social Assistance

331

$35,201,493

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

618

$54,257,905

3,796

$309,935,754

205

$19,664,284

77

$519,913

433

$71,469,318

10,096

$1,122,317,233

Management of Companies and Enterprises Admin. & Support Services, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services Educational Services

Accommodations and Food Services Other Services (excluding Government) Private Household Operations Government Enterprises (Fed, State, & Local; example USPS) Total

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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Joint Base Charleston-Air Force The United States Air Force component of Joint Base Charleston ( the 629th Air Base Wing and 315th and 437th Airlift Wings) directly employs approximately 7,300 active duty and civilian workers at its North Charleston base, translating into a total employment impact of more than 12,200 jobs in the Charleston region and more than $1.7 billion in total output, not including other area military facilities. The impact of the direct jobs (all federal government jobs) do not directly generate any indirect effect (business-tobusiness), according to the IMPLAN model. Their spin-off effect is strictly “induced,� defined as changes in local spending by households resulting from income changes in the directly and indirectly affected business sectors Table 6: Estimated Economic Impact Generated Annually in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

Employment 7,300 0 4,932 12,232

Labor Income2 $776,628,603 $0 $185,080,647 $961,709,251

Output1 $1,137,675,043 $0 $588,437,885 $1,726,112,928

Employment

Output1

Forestry, Fishing, Agriculture, Mining

21

$2,191,879

Utilities

13

$5,593,482

Construction

54

$5,582,574

Manufacturing

21

$11,415,535

Detail By Sector

Wholesale Trade

121

$21,745,940

1,031

$75,875,148

117

$12,603,480

89

$31,407,761

Finance and Insurance

273

$55,374,198

Real Estate, Rental Services, Leasing Services

454

$123,794,019

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

225

$32,483,053

9

$1,927,906

Admin. & Support Services, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services

260

$17,669,178

Educational Services

137

$8,920,929

Health Care and Social Assistance

800

$85,091,808

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

197

$16,778,504

Accommodations and Food Services

540

$35,914,393

Other Services (excluding Government)

333

$29,083,688

Private Household Operations

182

$1,227,793

7,359

$1,151,431,662

12,232

$1,726,112,928

Retail Trade Transportation and Warehousing Information

Management of Companies and Enterprises

Government Enterprises (Fed, State, & Local; example USPS) Total

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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Boeing South Carolina The Boeing Company’s facilities now directly employ 8,200 workers in the Charleston region in one of the highest impact sectors an economy can have—aircraft and aircraft parts manufacturing—sustaining another 20,000 jobs in the region with its spin-off effect in every sector. The total estimated impact of Boeing’s local employment is more than $11 billion in economic activity in the Charleston region.

Table 7: Estimated Economic Impact Generated Annually in the Charleston region, South Carolina Impact Type Direct Effect Indirect Effect Induced Effect Total Effect

Employment 8,200 10,604 10,188 28,992

Labor Income2 $1,028,945,247 $566,895,869 $381,970,724 $1,977,811,840

Output1 $8,143,893,749 $1,660,507,447 $1,214,582,499 $11,018,983,695

Employment

Output1

Forestry, Fishing, Agriculture, Mining

76

$12,165,914

Utilities

81

$36,144,780

274

$31,077,626

Manufacturing

8,612

$8,392,859,101

Wholesale Trade

1,343

$242,134,442

Retail Trade

2,260

$166,238,003

Transportation and Warehousing

1,584

$185,557,901

530

$180,157,098

Detail By Sector

Construction

Information Finance and Insurance

1,078

$205,614,931

Real Estate, Rental Services, Leasing Services

1,565

$357,298,238

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

2,634

$391,996,567

690

$155,705,831

2,673

$173,622,623

290

$18,891,252

Health Care and Social Assistance

1,649

$175,327,603

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

522

$40,160,565

Accommodations and Food Services

1,489

$99,183,636

Other Services (excluding Government)

Management of Companies and Enterprises Admin. & Support Services, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services Educational Services

1,029

$95,731,087

Private Household Operations

380

$2,565,343

Government Enterprises (Fed, State, & Local; example USPS)

233

$56,551,154

28,992

$11,018,983,695

Total

___________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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Summary The aviation complex including Charleston International Airport, Joint Base Charleston Air Base and The Boeing Company generates more than $13.8 billion and 51,000 local jobs annually in the Charleston region’s economy.  

The $13.87 billion in total economic activity generated by the aviation complex equates to 40 percent of the Charleston Metropolitan Area’s Gross Metropolitan Product ($32.676 billion in 2013 according to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis).

With more than 312,000 jobs located within Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties, the aviation complex in the Charleston region helps sustain more than 16 percent of this total, along with over $3 billion in compensation for local workers.

Table 8: Total Aviation Complex Annual Economic Impact in the Charleston region, South Carolina

Charleston International Airport & tenants Charleston International Airport - Arriving Visitors Joint Base Charleston – Air Base The Boeing Company Total Aviation Complex

Total Employment Impact

Total Labor Income2 Impact

3,915

$200,492,680

$552,729,413

6,181

$196,256,250

$569,587,820

12,232 28,992 51,320

$961,709,251 $1,977,811,840 $3,336,270,021

$1,726,112,928 $11,018,983,695 $13,867,413,856

Employment

Output1

Forestry, Fishing, Agriculture, Mining

114

$16,873,737

Utilities

109

$48,024,289

Construction

382

$42,730,667

Manufacturing

8,655

$8,416,174,002

Wholesale Trade

1,553

$279,845,646

Detail By Sector

Retail Trade

4,661

$320,099,816

Transportation and Warehousing

2,981

$426,418,880

732

$248,209,937

Finance and Insurance

1,530

$298,327,042

Real Estate, Rental Services, Leasing Services

2,678

$611,818,769

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

3,117

$460,886,723

721

$162,717,627

3,424

$223,279,010

Information

Management of Companies and Enterprises Admin. & Support Services, Waste Mgmt. & Remediation Services Educational Services

489

$31,911,813

Health Care and Social Assistance

2,780

$295,620,904

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

1,336

$111,196,974

Accommodations and Food Services

5,825

$445,033,782

Other Services (excluding Government)

1,568

$144,479,058

639

$4,313,049

8,026

$1,279,452,134

51,320

$13,867,413,856

Private Household Operations Government Enterprises (Fed, State, & Local; example USPS) 1

Total Output1 or Value of Economic Activity

Total

Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals & unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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Background and History Chartered in 1970 by the State of South Carolina as a special purpose district, the Charleston County Aviation Authority (CCAA) is responsible for managing, operating and developing all public airports in the Charleston County Airport District. The CCAA is governed by a 13-member board made up of local mayors, state and county elected officials and business leaders from the region.

Charleston International Airport’s main terminal houses the airlines and related contractors, restaurant and retail concessionaires, the Transportation Security Administration, Customs and Border Patrol and the CCAA staff and administrative offices. In addition to the terminal building, the airport property houses an air cargo facility, fixed-based operators Landmark Aviation and Atlantic Aviation, parking for nearly 5,000 cars and rental car, taxi, shuttle and valet parking services. Also on site are the airport fuel farm and a CCAA law enforcement facility.

The runways at CHS are owned by the U.S. Air Force and Joint Base Charleston and are shared through what is the longest running civilian/military joint-use agreement of its kind with the Department of Defense.

Additionally, Chicago-based The Boeing Company has invested more than two billion dollars since the mid-2000s in developing its South Carolina campus adjacent to Charleston International Airport. Boeing’s property hosts several of its manufacturing facilities on the 265-acre (107-hectare) site, where the company fabricates, assembles and installs systems for aft (rear) fuselage sections of its 787 Dreamliner, and joins and integrates midbody fuselage sections. The site also houses a 1.2 million square-foot (111,483 square meters) final assembly and delivery facility which allows the company to perform final assembly and delivery of the 787 aircraft from North Charleston directly to customers around the world.

The nearby Interiors Responsibility Center South Carolina manufacturers, assembles and installs interior parts for South Carolina-built 787s. Today the site is one of only three in the world to assemble and deliver twin-aisle commercial airplanes. In 2013, the firm announced an additional $1 billion investment in expanding its Charleston area presence. The Boeing Company has established an IT Center of Excellence and an Engineering Design Center as a part of these additional assets in South Carolina. The company recently acquired an additional 468 acres of land at the airport for future use.

Charleston International Airport (CHS) is centrally located in the Charleston, S.C., metropolitan area and provides a first impression of the local community to the more than three million passengers annually coming to the South Carolina Lowcountry for business and leisure activities.

CHS is one of three public airports owned and operated by the Charleston County Aviation Authority (CCAA). The others are Charleston Executive Airport (JZI) on Johns Island and the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport (LRO). (The airports on Johns Island and Mount Pleasant are not included in the impact analysis.)

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Methodology To accurately measure the total economic impact of any entity or event, any “leakage” of dollars or expenditures outside the geographical area for which the impact is being measured must be taken into account. The resulting impact or “output” is the total net value of direct economic contribution of an entity or occurrence in a geographic location in terms of the value of goods and services produced in a given time period, plus the indirect and induced value of goods and services demanded by that region’s economy as those direct expenditures “turn over” in a region.

For example, Company A pays wages to its employees who in turn, use those wages to pay for housing, food, entertainment, auto repair services, etc. within the region. A portion of those wages spent for rent/mortgages, at grocery stores and restaurants, at entertainment venues and at auto repair shops, in this example, then go toward paying those establishments’ employee wages as well as other company expenditures, and the dollars continue to “turn over” this way within the region’s economy until leakage occurs—i.e. the dollars are eventually spent outside the region during travel, catalog purchases, etc.

Similarly, Company A may incur other local spending besides its own payroll such as at local office supply stores, caterers, accounting firms, etc. Company A’s spending translates into more local demand (spending) as those dollars “turn over” in the local economy or are used to pay for wages and operational expenditures at other local firms. The sum of these effects prior to leakage include the direct spending plus the indirect and induced spending, or total output of the economic event being examined. Indirect impact estimates changes in inter-industry (business-to-business) transactions as supplying industries respond to increased demand from the directly affected business sector(s). Induced impact estimates changes in local spending by households resulting from income changes in the directly and indirectly affected business sectors.

In this case, the econometric model used takes the employment of each identified entity, plus spending by air passenger visitors, and calculates total demand created locally minus that which must be supplied from outside the region (i.e. the leakage). Employment level details were supplied by Charleston County Aviation Authority officials in confidence to the Center for Business Research for use in the IMPLAN model to estimate the total economic impact. The CBR used other local studies as well its own primary research to estimate other inputs, including visitor statistics, and employment levels at the US Air Force portion of Joint Base Charleston and The Boeing Company complex.

Impact estimates were calculated using the IMPLAN 3.0 model (2008 baseline data) customized for the Charleston region. Hudson, Wisconsin-based MIG, Inc.’s IMPLAN system is currently used by more than 2,000 private and public entities, and thus is the most widely employed and accepted regional economic analysis software for predicting economic impacts (www.implan.com).

The CBR has served as the center for the compilation, interpretation and distribution of business and economic data for the three-county Charleston Metropolitan Area for 25 years. CBR staff for this project include Mary Graham (one of 32 certified community researchers in the country) and Jacki Renegar, who together have 50 years of experience in economic and community research and have conducted hundreds of economic impact analyses in the areas of manufacturing, real estate development, the military, the visitor industry, healthcare and the transportation sector.

For more information regarding methodology, please contact the Center for Business Research, Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce at (843) 577-2510.

Footnotes: 1

Output/Impact is defined as the value of goods and services produced with a given geographic region including any intermediate products purchased. See methodology for more details. Expressed in 2014 dollars.

2 Labor income is defined as all forms of employment income, including employee compensation (wages and

benefits) and proprietor income (payments received by self-employed individuals and unincorporated business owners). Expressed in 2014 dollars.

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PO Box 975 Charleston, SC 29402 843.577.2510

www.charlestonchamber.net